The Rusty Rider

Garbage

2009-11-12T19:42:00.000-08:00

Fished most of the day on November 10th on the Red River near the bridge to no where past Selkirk, MB. After awhile I moved and fished just before Breezy Point. No luck. Using minnows and shrimp as bait. Just trying to get one last day of fishing in.

However I didn't waste time while I was there. I picked up so much garbage it was unreal. What is wrong with people. I even picked up a broken chair. Included in the haul was probably around 15 plastic minnow containers. Where do these people think this stuff goes. It all ends up in the river. Sad.

I know its not left there by serious fishing people, we have learned to take are garbage with us. Some people will never learn, then perhaps they should just stay home and throw it on their carpet. Well I'm done for the fishing season now. Good luck to the rest of you still trying to get the big one. Ice fishing - maybe.

Getting back on the bike soon. I have done a couple of rides since my last post and as always it is great to get out there. Just have to dress a little warmer these days. No snow is always good.

Broken Spoke

2009-11-04T18:10:00.000-08:00

Well my last bike ride was October 26th so it has been awhile. On that ride it was fairly muddy and wet from rain the night before. So the following day I decided I better get the bike washed and cleaned off before it freezes. During that process I noticed I had a broken spoke on the back wheel. Not sure when that happened. Decided to take the wheel off and take it to the Bike Shop right away before rush hour traffic started. I was told it would be ready in about 15 minutes and if I wanted I could wait. So I wasn’t about to turn down a chance to hang around in the store.

Checked out all the really nice bikes. I can tell I sure have expensive tastes. Every bike I thought I would like cost a bundle $$. Well true to word it didn’t take long and I had my wheel fixed. New spoke and the wheel trued out. Good to go. Now just waiting for my next chance to go for a ride. Just have to bundle up and go for it.

Got the yard all raked and ready for winter. Not hard when you live on a postage stamp size yard (25’x120’). The pond has been emptied for sometime now as I had a racoon get at my goldfish about a month ago. Two of them managed to survive and I lost the smallest one. So needless to say they are inside for the winter now.

Our retirement group meets tomorrow morning for breakfast and it will be good to see everyone again. Usually we get around 35 - 45 people. Some of us manage to stay until lunchtime then head off for home or shopping.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-29T16:57:00.001-07:00

Visit Herbert's Place

2009-10-20T18:16:00.000-07:00

If you’re into Science Fiction check out Herbert’s Place.

Anyone sending him an email at hegro@shaw.ca and mentions that he (she) read his blog and tells him on which site he (she) saw my post will get a free download of 'Orion, the Hunt'. He will also draw one name for a free download of 'Symbiont of Passion'. That will happen Friday, October 23. He will announce the winner on the sites and the winner will also be notified.Check out his website Herbert's World for another excerpt.

Doing Nothing

2009-10-18T18:58:00.000-07:00

Wrinkled

2009-10-16T12:18:00.000-07:00

East Coast pictures

2009-10-05T18:33:00.000-07:00

Summerside, PEI Canada Summer Games

1961 Vokswagen, just a sharp as the day it was made. I had a 1961 Blue one.

Hopewell Rocks, New Brunswick

Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island

2009-10-05T18:22:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few more pictures...

Pugwash, Nova Scotia
Cabot Trail, Cape Breton

Sunset at Murray Harbour, PEI

I'm back

2009-10-05T17:57:00.000-07:00

We did a wonderful trip out to the East Coast this summer. Got visit with some of our friends. We did so many things in five weeks but good to be home again. Remember click on picture for larger size.

Kakabeka Falls, Ontario

A view from the National Art Gallery looking across the river.

1923 Model T (taken in Ottawa, Ont.)

Grand Falls Gorge, New Brunswick

Can you believe somebody was living in this house.

Trucks from Cruise Night

2009-07-17T13:37:00.001-07:00

I really think the pink grows on you. Very nice truck and the Bright Blue Stepside is a gem as well. These were all great looking trucks. Never owned a truck but still like them.

Sunday night - Cruise Night

2009-07-15T20:03:00.000-07:00

Sunday night finally got to go to a Cruise Night at Pony Corral, Grant Park and The Travern on Regent Ave. Always fun and great to see so many nice cars. No I don't have one. Enjoy seeing them and talking to some of the people. Click on the images for larger picture.

First ride for July

2009-07-15T19:45:00.001-07:00

On the first ride for July the weather was great. The shortcut over Omand's Creek was flooded. From here I went to Assiniboine Park then road thru Assiniboine Forest. On the way home I rode thru The Forks and the docks and walkways are also all flooded. Pretty much half the summer is gone and I don't think these walkways got used much. To bad. On this ride I managed to do 33.6 kms.

Some sweet 90s downhill MTB racing

2009-06-28T18:36:00.000-07:00

Here is some old downhill MTB racing, well worth a watch. (Click on link).
Thanks to Jerome's Bikes and Black Mountain Cycles for posting the link.

2009-06-28T18:21:00.000-07:00

Since the June 17th post, I have managed to get 63 kms of bike riding in. Some in the early evening. Only problem with riding late at night is it's very hard to see the potholes. Still any kind of ride is better than none. The last couple of days the weather has been raining and windy. I even had to take water out of the pond twice so I don't lose any of my goldfish.

The nice thing about bike riding is you get to see things. The 59 caddy above was a hidden gem that would not have been seen by car. It was in really good condition and just sitting in a small parking lot. Neat. (Click on picture to make larger).

The creek is another site most people would miss by car.

Farrah Fawcett

2009-06-28T18:15:00.000-07:00

A great picture. Thanks to Riding Pretty for posting it.

The Pond

2009-06-17T22:32:00.001-07:00

The pond has been up and running for sometime now. I'm thinking the pond plant I had did not make it thru the winter. I had removed it and buried it up next to the house and covered it over with leaves etc. During the winter I made sure it had lots of snow over it. It's been such a late start to summer, I'll give it more time. The fish did well over the winter and are kept inside in a 25 gal tank. The outside pond is probably around 35 gallons.

I have had to clean it out once already. Our neighbour has a big maple tree that overhangs in our yard and it drops lots of seeds not to mention the sticky sap.

The Robins flew the Coup

2009-06-17T22:21:00.000-07:00

Well the robins have left the nest. One had died but the other three did well. Have been seen the neighbor’s yard. The nest was taken down and washed the light off with the hose. One of the web sites on Robin’s said sometimes they will nest again in the same spot but the nest has to be gone. They do not reuse nests and make a new one every time.

In the pictures above you can just see the moon on the left side of tower of Fort Gibraltar. The other is the long bike path between Gateway Rd and Raleigh St. It is a really nice ride of approx. 11 kms. This is a new bike path and lets hope they get around to putting some trees and even benches in. The bridge is the Provencher Bridge, Esplanade Riel suspension bridge.

Big

2009-06-05T10:58:00.000-07:00

Well the Robins are getting big and the nest is full. There are four of them now packed into the nest. Mom & Dad are busy feeding all day.

No riding this week. The weather hasn't been that great. Only 3 C this morning. Have been doing some Mall Walking and sometimes outside. Was a very busy week. Had to do some hospital visits and Thursday morning was the wrap up of our retirement group breakfast meetings until October. I would guess about 40 people showed up, we have had bigger numbers in the past but I guess people are busy or away.

Stuff

2009-05-31T11:30:00.000-07:00

Saw all this piled up behind a building on one of my rides. Yikes, where does all this stuff go. Not the landfill I hope.

EMS Bike Ride (May 24th)

2009-05-31T11:24:00.000-07:00

I was invited at the last minute to attend the First EMS Bike Ride at Birds Hill Park. My neighbor is a Paramedic Supervisor and the one who was responsible for the event. At first I wasn’t sure I would be able to attend. When Sunday morning came I had to push myself out of bed to go. Registration was from 7am to 8am and the ride had to be finished by 10:00 am (Park Rules). So my plan was to get there at 7 am. I was about 10 minutes late but it worked out well. They really didn’t have much time to prepare for the Ride and get things organized but in the end the turn out was good. It wasn’t a race and you did as many laps are you felt comfortable in doing.

I had ridden at Birds Hill before and really wasn’t sure how many laps I could do. In the end I did three laps and felt I could have done more but time was running out. In total the 3 laps around the park are approximately 38.75 kms from the starting point. So it was a good ride for a old guy like me. A BBQ and raffle was held after and everyone had a great time. All proceeds from the ride were donated to the Children’s Fund for Glycogen Storage Disease. Over $1,000 was donated to the fund on behalf of the Manitoba Paramedics. I’m sure next year’s event will be even bigger. Click on above link to see the pictures.

Robins Nest

2009-05-28T18:01:00.001-07:00

My brother has been sending me e-mails with pictures of a Robin's nest he has on one of his Garage outside lights. They are taken with him holding a mirror looking down into the nest. These pictures were taken over the last week showing how they have hatched. Taken in Regina, Saskatchewan.

This is a neat web site. There is a live web cam where you can watch the 2 peregrine falcons nesting. The same pair, Trey & Princess have nested on top of the Radisson Hotel in downtown Wpg for a few years..

Last year a big rain storm washed their nest & 3 babies away. some watchers were so distraught that they had to leave work. They had the live web cam last year as well.They even had firefighters rappelling down to the nest from the roof, but the babies couldn't be saved.

This year, they put a plastic box with gravel in it so they would have some protection. & the falcons came to the exact same spot. They had made a sheltered wooden box on the roof, but they chose not to have their nest their & go back to the spot that they lost their 3 chicks last year. They are on a ledge 13 stories up.

The 3 eggs have hatched & you can see bits of the chicks poking out.

www.cbc.ca/manitoba/features/falcon

May Long Weekend

2009-05-19T17:53:00.000-07:00

Omand's Creek foot bridge still flooded.

Painting on Anderson Animal Hospital Building
Map of my ride.
Downtown Winnipeg - no traffic

I cleaned the bike Sunday and waxed it. Surprising how long it takes to do that. Cleaned and oiled everything. Looks great.

I was out for morning bike ride on Monday. It was really nice when I started out and with Monday being a holiday no traffic to speak off. At one point my wife phoned me to see how I was doing because the wind really picked up @ 60 km/hr and the temperature was starting to drop. I left the house at 7:30 am. I was at Assiniboine Park when she called just starting my run home. Not many bike riders out and usually I see lots. By the time I got to Grant Park, about ¾ of the way home. I think the temperature must have dropped 10 degrees and now my bike computer was reading only 7 C out.

Called the wife to say I was stopping at McDonald's for a coffee and to warm my ears up. Anyway she decided to meet me for coffee and I put the bike in the van from there and took the easy way home. At this point I had already done 22 km and I was hoping for 30 before the weather got bad. Still 22 clicks are better than nothing. I still couldn’t believe how fast it got cold. I only had a light jacket on. Oh well longer ride next time.

Trouble

2009-05-17T20:46:00.000-07:00

Deep down under trouble was a brewing. On Thursday my 2000 Suzuki Esteem had problems. I knew I was in trouble when I noticed my turn signals didn’t work anymore. Lost power to my fan, lights, radio and my tachometer was jumping around like crazy. Since I was on the highway, I didn’t run into problems until I hit traffic in the city. Hard time keeping the car running and it quit at one of the busiest intersections. Lucky it’s not a big car and easy push. As we were pushing it, I thought to myself it seems to be moving fast enough, if I just pop the clutch it should start and it did. My son jumped in and we headed for home. Didn’t make it but close. It stopped again at the bottom of the street. We just parked it and walked home from there. Called my garage and told them what it was doing and they pretty much confirmed what I thought. The Alternator was probably gone. So I had it towed to the garage by CAA.

The next morning I went out with my van get a coffee and stopped in at the garage to see if they needed any more info. The mechanic was just putting it back on the lot. Already fixed. New (remanufactured) alternator, so $350 later she is good to go.

Better than me doing it. It’s cold out, raining and with a bit of snow thrown in. Not to mention I don’t have a garage and usually I lay a piece of carpet down on my gravel (muddy) parking spot. I almost said driveway but it is more of a parking spot.

So the weather hasn't been good at all. No bike riding that is for sure. I managed to get my pond going outside but still too cold to put the goldfish in. They will have to stay in the basement a little longer.

Cleaned the bike today. That takes a couple of hours. So now I hoping for a early morning bike ride tomorrow depending on the weather.

Crunch

2009-05-08T19:04:00.000-07:00

Image by Sam Javanrouh Some rights reserved

Two Old Timers

2009-05-04T17:08:00.001-07:00

Was in Morden, Manitoba on the weekend and spotted these two beauties. The top one was built in 1902. Very nice, love old house but you always need a big bank account to go with them. Going to Morden from Winnipeg we took Hwy 3 which was really busy with truck traffic as Hwy 75 to the US. border is still closed because of flooding.

We were taking our wives to a Quilt Show and lunch. Unforunately on the way back the windshield in my friends van took a stone. Hopfully they can fix it with resin. Weather has finally warmed up and we have started doing our yard work. The advantage of a small lot is less work at this time of year. No bike riding on the weekend.